I did it! I finished the Shamrock'n Half Marathon!

If you have been following me on Facebook or Twitter you will already know that on Sunday I ran in the Shamrock'n Half Marathon! This was my very first half marathon (13.1 miles), and my goal was just to finish without walking or stopping -- and I did it!!

I started running with my friend Kellie over the summer. We had been working out at the gym together pretty frequently but since the weather was so nice and we wanted to be outside, we started running a couple miles around Land Park. When we first started running, I could only go a mile or so before having to stop...eventually we built up a little stamina and could run about 3 miles. We did this once or twice per week between my softball games and regular gym workouts.

Then I signed up to run a 10k (about 6.2 miles) with the Sacramento Association of Realtors team for the annual "Run to Feed the Hungry" on Thanksgiving day, and was able to finish that...so I figured I would challenge myself and attempt a half marathon. I created a training program for myself and started running 4-5 days per week. It was sometimes exhausting and really physically challenging - and not necessarily convenient. Some mornings it was freezing cold or raining, or I had to schedule runs around events or appointments, or I had to run while out of town...

So now I have the running bug! The registration for the California International Marathon (26.2 miles) on December 4, 2011 is opening up next week...hmm.